NOBLE Statement on Independence Day

The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Statement on Independence Day   

[Alexandria, VA] Today, Vera Bumpers, President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), issued the following statement in celebration of our nation's Independence Day: 

"This Fourth of July, we celebrate our great nation which was founded on the principles of freedom, equality and opportunity for all. At a time when political discord is at its height, we see Independence Day as an opportunity for all Americans to rise above their differences and treat each other with dignity and respect."

 

"As we join our loved ones for this joyous celebration, we urge individuals and families to check local laws to ensure fireworks are permitted within their communities. Only adults should handle fireworks, and parents should supervise their children carefully. Local fireworks shows are also a safe alternative to launching fireworks from home and a great way to connect with your neighbors." 

 

"We want all Americans to be safe as they enjoy this day and to remember the sacrifices that were made for our nation to achieve its greatness."

    

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About the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives 

Since 1976, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has served as the conscience of law enforcement by being committed to justice by action. NOBLE represents over 3,000 members internationally, who are primarily African-American chief executive officers of law enforcement agencies at federal, state, county and municipal levels, other law enforcement administrators, and criminal justice practitioners. For more information, visit http://www.noblenational.org.

Happy Independence Day from the DC Metro HBCU Alumni Alliance, Inc.

Happy Independence Day!

from the DC Metro HBCU Alumni Alliance, Inc.

Anthony R. Green: Happy Fourth of July from Castle of our Skins!

 

Anthony R. Green

(Copyright Anthony R. Green 2015)

Anthony R. Green writes:

Happy Fourth of July from Castle of our Skins! This summer, we will be posting a weekly summer music listening list on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/castleskins, STARTING TOMORROW! Feel free to follow, comment, like, share, but most importantly ... ENJOY!

Cheers,

Ashe and Anthony

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Anthony R. Green
Composer.Performer.Social Justice
NewMusicBox article:
https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/what-the-optics-of-new-music-say-to-black-composers/ 

www.anthonyrgreen.com

www.castleskins.org

KCStudio.org: Harlem Quartet Comes to Carlsen Center as Ensemble-in-Residence

KC Studio

Harlem Quartet Comes to Carlsen Center as Ensemble-in-Residence for Heartland Chamber Music Festival

by Libby Hanssen

July 2, 2019

The Group’s July 31 “Cross Pollination” Concert Will Draw from Diverse Cultures, Exploring Ragtime, Afro-Cuban Rhythms and Classical Music

The Harlem Quartet debuted in 2006, named to honor the Harlem Renaissance of 100 years ago. The ensemble was founded by the Sphinx Organization, which uses classical music to further social justice. It has traveled the world promoting diversity in classical music and engaged young audiences by presenting both traditional string quartet repertoire and a variety of styles by underrepresented composers.

This July, the Harlem Quartet returns to the Kansas City area as ensemble-in-residence for the Heartland Chamber Music Festival at Johnson County Community College’s Carlsen Center.

“Our main goal is to inspire the kids by helping them identify with the music and the performers, to see people that look like them,” said Ilmar Gavilán, violinist and founding member of Harlem Quartet. The quartet includes fellow violinist and founding member Melissa White, as well as Jaime Amador on viola and Felix Umansky on cello.

Harlem Quartet has come to Kansas a few times, including a 2017 residency with the Heartland festival, which has previously invited the Miami String Quartet and the Parker Quartet.

“Having a professional string quartet every summer to work with our local and national students is so critical to their development,” said Victoria Olson, one of the festival’s founders and co-artistic directors.

Harlem Quartet’s concert is called “Cross Pollination.” It explores influences from various cultures in the string quartet and brings together these diverse worlds.

Willliam Bolcom’s “Three Rags for String Quartet” began life as a work for piano, exploring the ragtime style, while Claude Debussy’s “String Quartet” in G minor incorporates the persistent rhythms of Indonesian gamelan. Debussy’s writing style influenced the jazz musicians of New Orleans, and those musicians, in turn, shared ideas with musicians in Cuba, where Gavilán grew up in a prominent musical family.

Originally from Havana, Gavilán studied classical violin but also learned styles like jazz and salsa that he heard on the radio and in the street, at social clubs and carnival. “The music is all around you,” he laughed, “so you pick up a couple of things.”

They’ll also perform a work by Gavilán’s father — composer and conductor Guido López-Gavilán. His “Cuarteto en Guanguancó” uses Afro-Cuban rhythms and textures. The program concludes with Johannes Brahms “String Quartet No. 3, Op. 67,” a pleasant, playful work that has youthful charm, ideal for a primarily young audience.

The concert is a classic example of the sort of eclectic viewpoint the group brings to the genre. Harlem Quartet has worked with masters of many idioms, including Chick Corea and Gary Burton. The quartet was featured on the Grammy Award-winning tune “Mozart Goes Dancing” from Corea and Burton’s album “Hot House.”

An inspiring opportunity for students

But their stay in Kansas is more than just an inspirational performance. During their two-day residency, they also coach the Heartland participants, working with students from middle school through pre-professional level players.

“We work it out that every single student gets to work with them in their group, so it’s really hands-on for the 80 students in the festival,” said Olson.

Randye Jones writes "So You Want To Sing Spirituals: A Guide For Performers"

Randye Jones writes:

Although Negro spirituals can trace their history back to the folk songs of the African continent, their first entry into the art song repertoire occurred barely a century ago with the publication of “Deep River” by Harry T. Burleigh in 1916.  Their presence in the repertoire has not been without controversy, however.  Some have questioned whether the sorrow songs of slavery would be diluted by forcing them into the mold of the European art song format.

Caucasians and other vocalists who are not of the African diaspora have questioned whether they have “permission” to sing concert spirituals, especially using dialect. Even the choice whether to use Negro spirituals, Black spirituals, Afro-American spirituals or African American spirituals has sparked discussion among those who question which term is appropriate.

Still, singers are discovering that it is difficult to resist the powerful pull of the spirituals’ soul-stirring words and music as they search for opportunities to enrich and diversify their vocal repertoire. The spirituals’ melodies are often familiar, and the sacred texts often tell biblical stories from a different perspective. Mostly, though, spirituals tell the story of a people who created the sorrow songs, the songs of defiance, and the songs of deliverance as they bore the burdens of slavery.

In So You Want to Sing Spirituals: A Guide for Performers, soprano and music historian Randye Jones gathers into one resource information musicians will find pertinent to developing an understanding of the vocal style.  The book explores the history of spirituals–from its folk song roots, through the transformation to choral and solo vocal concert performance, to its development into art song, followed by a discussion of the lives and recorded works of several composers and singers who have contributed significantly to the concert spiritual repertoire. Jones also delves into the performance practice of spirituals, especially when and how to use dialect in performance. There is a discussion about the various controversies related to singing concert spirituals, including the question of whether the performance of spirituals should be open to all singers no matter their race.

In addition to the foreword by George Shirley, contributors to So You Want to Sing Spirituals are: Casey Robards (collaborative piano), Emery Stephens and Caroline Helton (art songs by African American composers), Barbara Steinhaus (interpretative guidelines for studio teachers), Patricia Trice (concert spiritual choral music historical overview), Timothy Sharp (development of spirituals as sacred choral music), Felicia Barber (dialect in concert spiritual choral music), Scott McCoy (singing and vocal science), and Wendy LeBorgne (general physical wellbeing). The book and series editor is Matthew Hoch.

Also available are links to extensive supplemental content, including brief composer biographies, bibliographies of selected music books, scores, and sound recordings and a categorized guide on spirituals with biblical references and vocal anthology placement, as well as online resources related to specific chapters of the book.

While So You Want to Sing Spirituals is intended primarily for classically trained solo singers, there is content suited to collaborative instrumentalists, studio instructors, and choral performers as well as others in the world of music who want to learn more about this vocal musical style. Voice teachers and coaches will also find the book helpful when selecting music and representative recordings to assist their students in developing the relevant technical and stylistic approaches to singing spirituals. It would also be helpful to instrumentalists–especially keyboard players–and conductors who may be working with singers on this repertoire, and librarians who wish to acquire books, scores, recordings, and other resources to support their patrons who are interested in Negro spirituals.

So You Want to Sing Spirituals is scheduled for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in Fall, 2019. So You Want to Sing: Guides for Performers and Professionals is a series of works devoted to providing a complete survey of what it means to sing within a particular genre. Each contribution functions as a touchstone work for not only professional singers, but students and teachers of singing. Titles in the series offer a common set of topics so readers can navigate easily the various genres addressed in each volume. This series is produced under the direction of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the leading professional organization devoted to the science and art of singing. Pre-order information is available at https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538107348/So-You-Want-to-Sing-Spirituals-A-Guide-for-Performers# (use code 7A30AUTHF to receive a 30% discount–limited time only). Pre-orders can also be placed on Amazon.com.

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   |)   Randye Jones, MM

 /|    Soprano and Music Historian

(  | )  afrodiva2003@yahoo.com

   |    Home

The African Concert Series: Chineke! Quartet, 17 July, 7:30 PM, The October Gallery

The African Concert Series welcomes this month the Chineke! Quartet, on Wednesday, 17 July, 7.30pm at the October Gallery London with Simmy Singh, violin

Elodie Chousmer-Howelles, violin

Stephen Upshaw, viola

Desmond Neysmith, cello

The programme features Joseph Boulogne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges) – String Quartet No 3 in G minor and Florence B Price - String Quartet in G minor

Tickets £10, available on the door! 

This is the 5th concert of the 2019 African Concert Series curated by the London based Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia, organiser Yves Ngoy, The Institute of Art and Music AMI5. The aim of the series is to bring African classical music to the western audience, this richly diverse genre of music which originated in West Africa and forms a bridge between western classical music and African traditional music.  

More info about the series and upcoming concert dates at theafricanconcertseries.wordpress.com

TheViolinChannel.com: Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 1 [Premiere Recording]

Eleanor Alberga

String Quartets 1, 2 & 3

Ensemble Arcadiana

Navona Records

The Violin Channel

NEW MUSIC TUESDAY | Composer Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 1 [PREMIERE RECORDING]

July 2, 2019

The Ensemble Arcadiana performing the world premiere recording of Jamaican composer Eleanor Alberga‘s String Quartet No. 1.

“My three quartets were written within a few years of each other – between 1993 and 2001 … ” Eleanor has told The Violin Channel.

“I owe a great deal to my late dear friend David Angel (1955- 2017), long serving 2nd violinist in the Maggini Quartet, for instigating the commissioning of both the 1st and 3rd quartets … the 2nd was commissioned by the Smith Quartet – a group dedicated to the performance of contemporary music,” she has said.

Cedille Records: San Francisco Chronicle review of "Winged Creatures"

Winged Creatures And Other Works For Flute, Clarinet & Orchestra

Demarre & Anthony McGill

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra

Allen Tinkham

Cedille Records

Cedille Records

"If there’s any musical experience more rewarding than a performance by one of the McGill brothers, it’s the chance to hear them play together... A disc’s worth of orchestral works featuring both of them in starring roles is a delight."

—San Francisco Chronicle

Chronogram.com: Damien Sneed in Scott Joplin's "Treemonisha," Phoenicia Festival Aug. 3

Damien Sneed reimagines Scott Joplin's "Treemonisha" at the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice on August 3.    

Chronogram  

July 1, 2019

Celebrating African Music and Artists with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice

[Phoenicia, New York] 

By Peter Aaron

 A key part of the Western musical tradition, opera is an art form that's, unsurprisingly, associated mainly with white artists and white audiences. But, as with so many aspects of culture and society, opera's history has its share of vital black performers, patrons, and parallels. With this in mind, the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, which celebrates the power of the human voice in music, is honoring African American artists and African-related themes as part of its milestone 10th season this year.

Amid more standard Western fare, the festival, which takes place the weekend of August 2-4, includes "Lady Parts: Music of the Abolition Movement" (August 3); "Music of the African Diaspora" (August 3-4); a production of Donizetti's "L'Elisir D'Amore (The Elixir of Love)" featuring an all-African American cast (August 3); and a program of excerpts from Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha" reimagined by Houston Grand Opera composer-in-residence Damien Sneed. We spoke with the festival's general director, Maria Todaro about this year's programming. Phoeniciavoicefest.org.

—Peter Aaron

Congratulations on the 10th anniversary of the festival! What are some of the most significant ways that the event has changed and grown over its first decade?

I would say the most important progress has been in our logistics. We've learned to become more hospitable and serve better and, by doing so, have created a real model that other companies around the country follow. We focus on the experience that our patrons and artists will live more than selling tickets to shows. We've developed partnerships and collaborative efforts with many arts and social justice organizations to make the art relevant. We realized that in order to build audiences we had to really be among them, to listen and make opera non-threatening. We discovered that opera has a bad reputation because it is often expensive and perceived as stiff, pompous, or reserved for the elite. We have tried to become advocates of this art form, to make it accessible, fun, and family-friendly.

This year the festival is honoring African American artists. How and why did you and the other organizers come to select this as the theme?

Opera has the reputation to be written by white people for white people.             

AaronAsk: Weekly mentoring for a creative life: Make a Decision!

http://www.aaronask.com/make-a-decision-2/

Aaron P. Dworkin writes:

Greetings and welcome to this week's episode of AaronAsk, your weekly mentoring session to live a fulfilling creative life!  This week's episode is titled, Make a Decision!  Enjoy, we wish you a creative day and see you for next week's session! 

Comment by email:
Thanks so much Bill and hope all is well! [Aaron P. Dworkin]